teaching - Earth Science Teachers' Association

TEACHING EARTH SCIENCES ● Volume 26 ● Number 3, 2001
RAISING STANDARDS IN EARTH SCIENCE TEACHING (The Joint Earth Science Education Initiative)
In the run up to taking the ESTA chair in 2000, perhaps somewhat naively,
I suggested that ESTA’s vision and priorities should be re-orientated,
to address more fully the needs of the c10 million children in UK schools
being taught science. The enormity of the task was awe-inspiring. The
odds were clearly against success: not only were the resources meagre
in the extreme, by all accounts there was an ‘entrenched folklore’ of
antagonism towards Earth sciences on the part of ‘mainstream’ science
teachers, having to shoe horn this alien science into an overcrowded
science curriculum.
At the same time, the initial findings of research (ongoing) by Chris
King and Alastair Fleming of the Earth Science Education Unit (ESEU)
at Keele University were disturbing. They pointed not only to
widespread poor standards in Earth science teaching in schools by
non-specialists, but also to howlers in textbooks and, even more
worrying, in examination board questions, which would not be out of
place in the pages of Just William (King 2001).
To our pleasant surprise and great relief, preliminary soundings of
the other science subject teaching associations were encouraging. Far
from objections and turf wars, talks began in earnest in late 2000,
embracing the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Institute of Physics, the
Institute of Biology and ESTA under the good offices of the Royal
Society. The Geological Society is also represented on the steering
group. The parties involved were not merely amicable but enthusiastic
in their willingness to confront the issues. Working together, the Joint
Earth Science Education Initiative (JESEI) was established. With
generous core funding (and most welcome direct involvement) from the
United Kingdom Offshore Operators Association (UKOOA) and
contributions of finance or expertise, from the subject teaching
organisations concerned, material is now being prepared to support and
improve standards of Earth science delivery by chemistry, physics and
biology teachers respectively. The aim is not necessarily to reinvent
wheels, but to point practitioners to existing high quality material.
Initial topics under way or being considered include: volcanoes
(origins and impacts); copper mineralisation; limestone (the World’s
most useful rock); characteristics of sandstones; seismic waves/ Earth
structure; and fossils. Again, thanks to UKOOA sponsorship, some of
these will receive a first airing at the Association for Science Education
annual conference in January 2002 in Liverpool. These and other
dedicated Earth science workshops are being widely promoted at this
annual event which usually attracts 4-5,000 participants.
The current JESEI programme focuses upon secondary (Key Stages
3 and 4) science; the ultimate intention is to extend the work to
primary (Key Stages 1 and 2) and to geography.
King, C. 2001. Earth Science teaching in England and Wales today:
progress and challenges. Teaching Earth Science 26 pt2. Pp59-67
Ian Thomas
the scene, not only by giving
mildly promotional information
about Hanson’s global operations
in quarrying and brickmaking but
also by pointing teachers to the
relevant National Curriculum
statements in science, geography,
maths and English.
Section 1 of the teachers file
(“Magnificent Materials”) focuses
on rocks and minerals, especially
in relation to a site visit. It is
significant that “minerals” in the
teachers’ notes are described as
“ingredients from which rocks are
made”, with no reference to the
concept of bulk construction
minerals. Surely this is an
opportunity to clarify the
difference in the two uses of the
“mineral” label, at least for the
teachers. Section 2 (“Researching
Rocks”) contains a good selection
of teaching ideas, although I
always get suspicious when I read
something like “geologists also
group rocks according to their
hardness” (page 2:2) because I
know what often follows! I am
afraid it is true this time as well.
Later in Section 2 we find a pupil
resource sheet (“Rock Fact Chart”)
which comprises 15 rock types
(basalt and granite, through shelly
limestone and coal to slate and
schist) which are summarised
under 5 variables: Is it found in
the UK? (all are ticked, of course);
type of rock (igneous, sedimentary,
metamorphic); can you scratch it
with your fingernail? (the concept
of hardenss applied to a rock: no
comment!); can you scratch it
with a steel nail? (ditto: no
comment again, although
conglomerate is ticked and granite
is not ticked.... interesting); what
colour is it? It is a pity that such
woolly material is allowed to find
its way into such a good resource.
I wonder how it happened?
Section 3 (“Bricks for Building”)
offers some excellent teaching ideas
about brick-making, heating
materials and developing numeracy
skills (although goggles are not
mentioned where they should be).
Sections 4 and 5 look at “Quarries
in Action” and “Quarry Control”
respectively and are strongly
orientated towards a site visit.
Section 6 continues with the strong
environmental emphasis started in
Section 5 and deals with the issues
associated with quarry extension. A
lively and imaginative role play is
given: Miss Busy, Mr Strong, Mr
Green etc, each with a brief role
and each putting their views on the
proposal to extend Rocky Quarry.
Unlike other similar role-play
situations, however, the “correct”
answer is provided with the
resources: “The local council
decide to allow the extension to
Rocky Quarry”! This predetermined
outcome is given on
the pupil resource sheet (p. 6:8), so
perhaps the bright spark in Year 6
who spots it right at the start of the
debate might suggest that they call
the whole thing off and either go
home to watch tele or organise a
militant demonstration! Clearly
rational debate is merely a charade!
The final two sections in the
Teacher Resource Pack deal at
greater length with environmental
management.
This is a good resource which,
in the hands of a teacher who can
not only exploit its strengths but
also avoid its potential weaknesses,
will enhance children’s
understanding of the science and
geography of quarrying and brickmaking
in the UK.
RDT
121 www.esta-uk.org